Born at Brucefield, Ontario in 1877, son of William John Higgins and Sarah Callender, he came to Manitoba with his family in 1881 and settled at Hartney. He received a first-class teachers certificate then taught school from 1896 to 1901 when he came to Winnipeg and went into the real estate business. He was a member of the Adanac Club, Assiniboine Club, Winnipeg Golf Club, Winnipeg Real Estate Exchange, Western Canada Real Estate Association, and the Winnipeg Industrial Bureau. In 1904 he married Bessie F. Mundell of Niagara Falls, Ontario. They had one son, William Russell Higgins (b 1906).